Former German U17 international player killed in action

A former German international was killed as a terrorist in Syria last month, it has been revealed.

Coaches praised his talent: “He certainly could have made a living as a footballer,” one said. But instead of continuing to pursue a career in sports he joined terrorist forces.

German security sources confirmed this Monday a report by tabloid Bild that former German U17 international player Burak Karan was killed in action in Syria. The 26-year-old, who was reportedly known by German foreign intelligence agencies, stopped playing ball six years ago.

Born in Wuppertal in West of Germany, Karan learned the game at Bayer Leverkusen’s Youth Academy then transferred to Hertha BSC Berlin to Hamburger SV to Hannover 96 and then to Alemannia Aachen – aside from Aachen all clubs are well-known and established in Bundesliga. Burak Karan’s talent was no secret. He trained with young players then, who are now pros, like Sami Khedira from Real Madrid, former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng and Dennis Aogo of FC Schalke 04.

Playing in Hamburg Karan suffered a injury setback however nothing what could have ended his career. Three years later at the age of 20 he walked away from football. His brother said about the move: “Burak told me, money and career are not important.”

Karan radicalised and had appearances in “violent demonstrations” the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitungwrote. In this year’s spring the seven time international left his country to join the terrorist forces in Syria and was killed in action last month. There are different views on how the former player died, in a gunfight or during a aerial attack, the Federal Ministry of the Interior are still investigating the case.

Today some old colleagues of Karan expressed their condolences including former Tottenham Hotspur ace Kevin-Prince Boateng of FC Schalke 04, who also said that he lost track of his friend.

Markus Hanfler

Markus wanted to be a dinosaur and a cowboy first. After it became clear that this wasn't going to pan out he started pursuing a career as a journalist. Having gained experience by writing for a local newspaper and the German Federal Ministry of Defence he started a blog to discuss American Football with a friend. When he is not watching sports or checking out what’s new on the internet, he likes playing sport himself – especially climbing and Ultimate Frisbee (“Yes! It’s a sport.”).